High Tide
High Tide is the tenth episode of TUGS. Plot Big Mac arrives at the briefing with his face covered in coal dust, having worked all night. Top Hat rudely teases him for it, and Warrior defends him, until Captain Star begins the briefing. He sends Top Hat to pick up Lord Stinker, much to his disgust. Top Hat tries to argue his way out of it, but fails. Sunshine is sent to help Ten Cents, who is already working and OJ to pick up a new propeller from Lucky's Yard, where Ten Cents and Sunshine will help him after finishing their work. Big Mac & Warrior are sent to pick up steel, & Captain Star warns them to be careful, as the highest tide in years was taking place. As Big Mickey, the port's largest crane, is preparing for the move to the new location, Big Mac & Warrior run into Zebedee and Zak, who are competing for the steel contract. Big Mickey loads the steel, and wishes Big Mac & Warrior luck as they begin their trip to the new steelworks location. Shortly after, Zebedee and Zak decide to cut through the canal, seeing as it's too narrow for the Star Tugs & them to go through at the same time. Big Mac & Warrior find out about this, but they don't worry about losing the contract, because with Zebedee's tall load, the high tide, & low bridges, the Z Stacks were sure to get their just desserts! Meanwhile, Top Hat is also going through the canal with his barges Frank and Eddie, & Lord Stinker. He spots the two Z Stacks, and they argue over who will pass, & who will turn back. Zebedee & Top Hat both try to go through, and find out who'll make it through, but then Top Hat backs away, seeing that Zebedee's load will hit the railway bridge. Zebedee can't reverse, and he winds up ramming into the railway bridge. As he and Zak go for help, Puffa, though not mentioned by name, pulling the mail train makes his way toward the bridge, which was weakened by Zebedee's steel. Top Hat has an idea. He plans to prop the bridge up with Zebedee's load. The steel is put into place, and it holds up long enough for The Mail train to pass. Right after, though, the steel collapses, followed by the bridge, just as the Goods train makes its way to it. Lord Stinker has an idea: to attempt to catch the train by waiting in front of the broken rail. His idea works, and no damage comes to Lord Stinker, the goods engine, or its wagons. The steel company wasn't happy about the damage done by the Z Stacks and the Star Fleet were given the steel contract as the bridge was rebuilt. Characters *Captain Star *Ten Cents *Big Mac *O.J. *Top Hat *Warrior *Sunshine *Zebedee *Zak *Lord Stinker *Big Mickey *Frank and Eddie *Jack the Grappler *Captain Zero *Princess Alice *Zip (cameo) *Puffa (cameo) *Scuttlebutt Pete (cameo) *Mighty Moe (cameo) *Izzy Gomez (cameo) *The Duchess (cameo) *Princess Alice (cameo) *S.S. Vienna (cameo) *The Goods Engine (does not speak) Trivia *This was Big Mickey's first major speaking appearance. He later appears for the last time on Munitions. *This episode doesn't feature Hercules, Zorran, Zug and Captain Zero. (However Captain Zero was mentioned) *Captain Star explained how Bigg City Port worked. *Sixth appearance of Frank & Eddie *Either Johnny Cuba or a tramp steamer resembling him appears at the beginning. *Zip makes a small cameo in the very first shot of this episode. When a tramp steamer resembling Johnny Cuba and Sunshine pass by, Zip can just be seen. *Puffa makes unnamed cameos throughout the episode; he pulls the mail train which successfully makes it across the crippled bridge. He also pulls two passenger trains; once when Captain Star is telling us about the bridges over the canal, and his whistling interrupts Top Hat, who is trying to make the Z-Stacks let him through. *The Bridge Top Hat passes under appears to be modeled after the Brooklyn Bridge, giving some hints that the show takes place in America. *This is the second time we see Zak blow his engine--the first time he did it was in "Pirate". *The only railway accident in the entire series. *Second episode that Zorran isn't cast in. *This is the only episode where the Z Stacks appears, but Zorran isn't one of those Z Stacks that appear. *Cameo by Mighty Moe at the end of the episode. *The shot of Big Mac and Warrior pulling the steel barges was actually stock footage from Sunshine. *This is the goods engine's only distinct role. *This is the second episode to have "High" in the title, the first being "High Winds". *Cameo by Izzy Gomez at the beginning. Goofs * When the train plunges into Lord Stinker, he doesn't budge an inch. The impact would have shaken him badly. * In the close-ups of Zebedee moving toward the bridge, his load is either not moving, or moving at a slower pace then he is. * Warrior's background keeps changing when he and Big Mac are speaking to Zebedee and Zak. *When Big Mac arrives covered in coal, the coal makes a dark circle around his mouth. In a later shot, the dark circle is gone, due to Big Mac is wearing a different face. *Puffa appears to be going around in circles judging the three cameos he makes. *In the first shot, Zebedee is pulling a barge. But in another shot, he's pushing the barge. *When the Goods Train lands on Lord Stinker, two long wires can be seen attached to the train and the wagon behind it, causing the front wagon to fall into the water. *As Zedebee and the steel rig head towards the bridge, in one shot Top Hat reverses with his load, but when we cut back to Zedebee, he is still there. *When Top Hat and Zebedee charge at The Bridge, look closely in one of the shots, and you will see top Hat not moving. *Captain star cleary said "There was no way to warn the train". However, the train appears to slow down as it goes over the bridge.